In wireless communication systems, such as in an Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless system, the network may configure the wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) with uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) resources on a single uplink (UL) and single downlink (DL) carrier respectively. In order to utilize these resources, the WTRU may be expected to be in sync with the network on these carriers.
Resources may need to be consumed to determine the synchronization and alignment status between the WTRU and the network via the single UL/DL carrier. More resources may be necessary to determine synchronization and alignment between the WTRU and the network where multiple uplink carriers may be available to the WTRU.